MDIs are the most significant type of inhalation drug delivery system and are well known to those skilled in the art. They are designed to deliver, on demand, a discrete and accurate amount of a drug to the respiratory tract of a patient using a liquefied propellant in which the drug is dissolved, suspended or dispersed. The design and operation of MDIs is described in many standard textbooks and in the patent literature. However, they all comprise a pressurised container that holds the drug formulation, a nozzle and a valve assembly that is capable of dispensing a controlled quantity of the drug through the nozzle when it is activated. All of these components are typically located in a housing that is equipped with a mouth piece. The drug formulation will comprise a propellant, in which the drug is dissolved, suspended or dispersed, and may contain other materials such as co-solvents, surfactants and preservatives.
In order for a propellant to function satisfactorily in MDIs, it needs to have a number of properties. These include an appropriate boiling point and vapour pressure so that it can be liquefied in a closed container at room temperature but develop a high enough pressure when the MDI is activated to deliver the drug as an atomised formulation even at low ambient temperatures. Further, the propellant should be of low acute and chronic toxicity and have a high cardiac sensitisation threshold. It should have a high degree of chemical stability in contact with the drug, the container and the metallic and non-metallic components of the MDI device, and have a low propensity to extract low molecular weight substances from any elastomeric or other polymeric materials in the MDI device. The propellant should also be capable of maintaining the drug in a homogeneous solution, in a stable suspension or in a stable dispersion for a sufficient time. When the drug is in suspension in the propellant, the density of the liquid propellant is desirably similar to that of the solid drug in order to avoid rapid sinking or floating of the drug particles in the liquid. Finally, the propellant should not present a significant flammability risk to the patient in use. In particular, it should form a non-flammable or low flammability mixture when mixed with air in the respiratory tract.
Dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12) possesses a suitable combination of properties and was for many years the most widely used MDI propellant, often blended with trichlorofluoromethane (R-11). Due to international concern that fully and partially halogenated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), such as dichlorodifluoromethane and trichlorofluoromethane, were damaging the earth's protective ozone layer, many countries entered into an agreement, the Montreal Protocol, stipulating that their manufacture and use should be severely restricted and eventually phased out completely. Dichlorodifluoromethane and trichlorofluoromethane were phased out for refrigeration use in the 1990's, but are still used, to some extent, in the MDI sector as a result of an essential use exemption in the Montreal Protocol.
1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a) was introduced as a replacement refrigerant and MDI propellant for R-12. 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane (R-227ea) was also introduced as a replacement for R-12 in the fire control (e.g. computer suites) and MDI sectors and is sometimes blended with R-134a for these applications.
Although R-134a and R-227ea have low ozone depletion potentials (ODPs), they have global warming potentials (GWPs), 1430 and 3220 respectively, that are now considered to be too high by some regulatory bodies, especially for dispersive uses when they are released into the atmosphere.
One industrial area that has received particular attention recently has been the automotive air-conditioning sector where the use of R-134a has come under regulatory control as a result of the European F-Gas Regulations. Industry is developing a number of possible alternatives to R-134a in automotive air conditioning and other applications that have a low greenhouse warming potential (GWP) as well as a low ozone depletion potential (ODP). Many of these alternatives include hydrofluoropropenes, especially the tetrafluoropropenes such as 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234yf) and 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234ze).
Although the proposed alternatives to R-134a have a low GWP, the toxicological status of many of the components, such as certain of the fluoropropenes, is unclear and they are unlikely to be acceptable for use in the MDI sector for many years, if at all.
There are also other problems with R-134a and R-227ea. Most pharmaceutical actives for treating respiratory disorders, such as asthma, tend not to dissolve well in either R-134a or R-227ea and have to be handled as suspensions in the propellant. Drug suspensions give rise to a number of problems, such as nozzle blockage, agglomeration and sedimentation, the latter problem making it essential to shake the MDI thoroughly before use to ensure that the drug is evenly distributed in the propellant. Furthermore, if the pharmaceutical active settles quickly following re-suspension in the propellant, as is often the case, then the propellant/drug composition must be delivered from the MDI shortly after shaking in order to ensure that the dose that is delivered contains an effective concentration of the pharmaceutical active.
The problem of poorly dissolving drugs has been addressed by including a carrier solvent in the composition in which the drug is soluble, such as ethanol, and/or by adding a surfactant to the composition to produce a more stable suspension. However, neither of these solutions is ideal. In particular, they can tend to impair the efficiency of the atomisation process and the quality of the aerosol spray that is delivered from the MDI. For example, carrier solvents such as ethanol can tend to result in a coarse spray having droplet sizes that are too large for acceptable penetration into the deep bronchiole passages of the lung. Further, high levels of ethanol can have unacceptable irritancy to the mouth and throat, especially with younger users. Clearly it would be advantageous to use the minimum levels of ethanol required in order to produce an acceptable solution formulation.
There is a need for a MDI aerosol formulation that has a reduced GWP in comparison with R-134a and R-227ea, that has acceptable flammability and toxicity performance and which forms stable suspensions or solutions with a range of pharmaceutical actives and with reduced irritancy.